Now in one richly illustrated volume, Paul Maier's classic trilogy on the origins of Christianity takes the reader back to the first Christmas, the first Easter, and the first Christians. In this revised, updated, and expanded edition Dr. Maier's impressive research and brilliant insights correlate history, archeology, and the Bible to bring alive the true drama of earliest Christianity. This skillful narrative sheds a brilliant new light on the life of Jesus and the adventures of the courageous men and women who carried His message throughout a hostile empire. A host of magnificent color and black-and-white photographs recreate the world, the mood, the people, and the events with an immediacy that sweeps readers into the exciting first years of Christianity.